The Weekly Circle #37
Welcome to the thirty-seventh episode of The Weekly Circle! A free Circles in Time post released every Sunday.
Hey everybody,
Now and then, I move into an explore phase, both personally and professionally. This allows me to step back, reflect on what I am doing, and map the path forward.
For the last couple of weeks, I have been a part of an excellent fellowship called On Deck. The specific program I am a part of is a cohort-based course about building a cohort-based course, which is probably the most meta thing I will ever do. 😅
Nonetheless, it has been a productive and enjoyable experience so far. I have learned a lot about building out the next edition of my Essentials programme and the Circles in Time community space.
More than anything, it has shown me that cohort-based courses and online communities are going to play an increasingly important as the internet evolves.
As a result of all of this, I am starting to put together a blueprint of what Circles in Time’s next phase will look like:
A year-long programme made up of four cohort-based courses, each building off one another; yet each distinct in covering four essential areas of inquiry, understanding and personal system change; and each piece necessary for achieving individual freedom in the modern world. The knowledge is available; access is possible and understanding attainable. Yet, it has become quite clear that this is not enough for transformational behaviour change. This program will aim not just to close one essential gap but close them all. A fundamental software update to the human OS—an adaptive shift to ensure fitness in a hyper-connected, internet-first, digital world.
I’m excited. It’s ambitious, and yet it is just a stepping stone on the path to what I envision Circles in Time’s ultimate end-state to be (I don’t think I’m quite ready to share that yet). As long as I enjoy the process, connect with others who share my values, remain clear in mind and adjust when necessary, I can’t see why I would settle for anything less than the limits of my imagination.
There has never been a better time in human history to create something new. Something extraordinary. Something that has the potential to touch an individual at any corner of the globe. Why not shoot your shot?
The next essay in my series on ‘Seeing Ourselves as Systems’ is out. If you are a Circles in Time community member, you can read the whole essay here. If you would like to become a member you can do so here.
Here is the first section:
Pleasure-Seeking Traps
Working with the perpetual cycle of pursuit, pleasure and pain.
The more pleasure we chase,
the more pleasure we attain,
the more we experience pain.
There is no pleasure without the existence of pain. They are two sides of the same coin. A deeply rooted system. Native to the human condition.
Importantly, there is nothing inherently wrong with pursuing life’s pleasures, but there are a range of problems that arise when we put pleasure on a god-like pedestal and pursue it blindly without regard for its implications.
When pleasure is made the ultimate object of life, what we are doing is attempting to make a home in something inherently ephemeral. As a result, we spend our whole life perpetually chasing and suffering as we desperately try to avoid the pain and hold onto pleasurable peaks when they arise.
This cycle is made more difficult by the fact that the pleasure associated with the object of our desire diminishes with time, while the pain we experience when we don’t have an object continues to rise.
This means that we need more and more of the object of desire in order for it to provide us with the same levels of pleasure.
Again, the pursuit of pleasure is NOT the problem here. Valuing pleasure above all else is. As a result, we turn a system that naturally produces a healthy balancing feedback loop into one that generates a reinforcement feedback loop, where we perpetually crave ever higher peaks which produce less and less pleasure as time passes. A cruel path, but one so many human’s end up going down.
This constant craving for more is often subtle but becomes obvious within the context of addictive drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine.
This search for new heights isn’t an inherent property of the drugs themselves. What these drugs are doing is just magnifying the effects of an existing system inherent in all of us. Whether is it be chocolate, cocaine or hitting a marathon milestone time, the story is the same.
We pursue, we attain, we feel pain and pursue more to reach the same pleasurable gain. That’s the cycle. That’s the system. That’s the game.
SHOULD YOU TRY TO LEAVE THE GAME?
Some suggest that we should attempt to end the perpetual pleasure-seeking cycle to remove pain and achieve a life of happiness, freedom and peace.
Ignore such suggestions with ruthless resolve. Unless, of course, you desire a shallow life of delusion and constant suffering.
I am going to assume that the intent of the individuals suggesting such a path are well-meaning, and in that case, they must have failed to see a fundamental truth about human nature:
That at a certain level, it is impossible… Continue Reading
PERSONAL HEALTH REVIEW
As part of my ongoing mission to experiment in public, I am sharing a weekly health review, which community members can access here.
The current version of the personal health review covers three essential areas, namely physical fitness, metabolic fitness and sleep fitness. I intend to adapt and add areas to the review as I identify high-signal measures for the different dimensions of my personal health.
My goal is to get my systems to the point where I can do a weekly review in 12 minutes, a monthly review in 120 minutes and a Quarterly Review 360 minutes. The whole purpose of these review protocols is to free up attentional capacity for me. If they aren’t doing that then the systems aren’t working as well as they could.
WISE WORDS
THE QUOTES I CIRCLED AROUND THIS WEEK
“Some things in life are too complicated to explain in any language. … Not just to explain to others but to explain to yourself. Force yourself to try to explain it, and you create lies.” ~ Haruki Murakami
“I think the odds are close to 100% that we currently believe something akin to “the world is flat” or “cigarettes are good for you.” Almost by definition, we don’t know what that idea is today. But our ancestors will laugh at us.” ~ Morgan Housel
“Sometimes we’re responsible for things, not because they’re our fault, but because we’re the only ones who can change them.” ~ Lisa Feldman Barrett
SOMETHING TO PART WITH
Until next week,
Take care,
David